Now Playing: On the Road Again |
McDANIEL FAMILY HISTORY
Origin of the surname McDaniel: Altered form of Irish McDonnell ‘son of Donal’, from an incorrect association of the Gaelic patronymic with the personal name Daniel. Other spellings of McDaniel are: MacDonald,McDonnell, McDonaill, and McDonall.
McDonnell is “Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Dhomhnuill, a patronymic from the personal name Domhnall.” “This family was for many centuries reputed the most powerful of any in the Highlands of Scotland, being styled 'King of the Isles' for many generations, during which they were successful in asserting their independence. Somerled, Thane of Argyle, flourished about the year 1140, and was the ancestor of all the McDonalds. He married the daughter of Olans, Lord of the Western Isles, whereupon he assumed the title of 'King of the Isles.' He was slain, in 1164, by Walter, Lord High Steward of Scotland. Donald, from whom the clan derived their name, was his grandson.” McDonald is “Scottish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Dhomhnuill, a patronymic from the personal name Domhnall, which is composed of the ancient Celtic elements domno- ‘world’ + val- ‘might’, ‘rule’.”
MATHEW M. McDANIEL
The first documented McDaniel in my family line is Mathew M. McDaniel. Mathew appears to have been born in Virginia on 4 Jan 1817. Mathew lists his birthplace as Virginia in the 1850, 1870 and 1880 censuses. The 1880 census lists his father's birthplace as Virginia and his mother's birthplace as Ireland. As there was discrimination against the Irish at various times and places, he may have felt more comfortable with saying he was born in Virginia. Verna McDaniel Pratt believes that Mathew did come from Ireland as a "bound boy" and that he probably "worked off" his passage in Roanoke, VA before transplanting to Natural Bridge. Also, she notes that many McDaniel brothers came at the same time--maybe as many as 12!!! In a letter, Edith Oneta McDaniel says that a brother of Mathew's named Andrew visited Mathew's son, Leonidas, in Tillamook, Oregon. One of Matthew's sons lists Ireland as his father's birthplace. I hope to someday find Mathew's birthplace and his parents.
NOTE: A newly discovered record on Ancestry.com shows that a young 24-year-old M. McDaniel, whose birth location is Ireland, left Liverpool, England on the ship Sheridan, arriving in the port of New York on 18 Apr 1842. The age of the passenger puts his year of birth in the range of 1817-1819, and we believe our Mathew was born in 1817. There must have been very many McDaniel males leaving Ireland between 1817 and 1848 [when our Mathew married Jemima Black] and it would be difficult, if not impossible, to declare that this is our Mathew.
It's time to set the record straight about Mathew's ancestry. Some earlier family research had indicated Mathew was descended from Randal McDaniel; however, my research and that of others indicates that, although it is possible there may be some relationship between the two McDaniel families, none has been proved to date and it seems unlikely. Our Matthew certainly was not the son of Matthew Whiteman McDaniel, also of Rockbridge, Virginia, who is actually younger than our Mathew.]
According to oral family history, Mathew spent his early years as a bond servant to a Greek tailor named Leonidas (after whom he named a son) possibly in Roanoke, Virginia. As Mathew lists his occupation as tailor in the 1850 census, this seems a definite possibility.
In the 1840 census, there is ony one Matthew McDaniel listed in Rockbridge County, Virginia, and he is married with two children. This would not be our Mathew. I also checked Roanoke County, VA and no Matthew McDaniel is listed there.
Mathew married Jamima (spelled in various places as Jemima, Jemimah, etc.) BLACK, daughter of Henry BLACK and Polly NEWCOMER, on March 21, 1848, Rev. Andrew B. Davidson officiating. Jamima's sister, Margaret, was married to William FORSYTHE on the same day and by the same minister.
Mathew and Jamima's first child was a son, named Henry A. apparently after Jamima's father, Henry Black. The 1850 census of Rockbridge County, VA, lists Mathew, age 33, Jamima, age 25 and their son Henry A., 6 months old. Mathew's occupation is tailor and his property is worth $500. All three have birthplace listed as Virginia.
Oral family history indicates that Jamima and her father, Henry, had some sort of falling out. There was speculation that Henry did not approve of the marriage between his daughter and Mathew. The reason given was that Henry was wealthy and Mathew didn't have much to offer in the way of material goods. Census data does not bear out that Henry was a rich man ... at least not until he married his cousin, Martha (Patsy) Black. After that, census records reflect an increase in the worth of his farm.
Jemima's mother, Polly, died March 23, 1831 and is buried in Oxford Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Rockbridge County, Virginia.
Henry then married his cousin, Martha (Patsy) as mentioned above.
After Martha's death in about 1851-1852, Henry married Isabella Forsythe (1853). Isabella was a sister of William Forsythe who married Jamima's sister, Margaret. Isabella was born in 1825, the same year that Jamima was born. I suspect that Jamima did not care for the idea of her father marrying someone who was possibly her girlfriend. Isabella was at the very least a contemporary of Jamima's and possibly even a friend and this, I believe, is what caused the rift between daughter and father.
Some time after the 1850 census was taken, Jamima and Mathew left Virginia. It is not known where there were during this time, possibly Tennessee, where it is believed that three, possibly four more children were born and died. There are no records offered as proof of this, only oral family history. By 1855, they were living in Ohio, where a son (Leonadis) is born. Two years later, they are living in Illinois. Here four more children are born (Margaret Jane, John E., Louisa V., and Herman Edward.
They next appear in the Federal Census of Pulaski County, (Big Piney) Missouri, in 1870. The following is noted: Mathew McDaniel, age 52, farmer, worth $111, born in VA; Jamima McDaniel, age 45, born in VA; Leonidas McDaniel, age 15, born in Ohio (this son was apparently named for Mathew's former employer, the Greek tailor); M. Jane, age 13, born in Illinois; John A., age 11, born in Illinois; Louiza V., age 9, born in Illinois; and Harman (Herman) E., age 6, born in Illinois.
The information contained in this census indicates that Mathew and Jamima should have been found in the 1860 census of Illinois but index records of that census do not show them at all. They may have been missed entirely or were accidentally deleted when the census-taker transcribed his notes. There was an Illinois State Census for 1865, but they have not been found in that state census either.
Mathew is listed as a Justice of the Peace in "Justices of Peace, Pulaski County, Missouri, 1833 to 1868." In a newspaper article, his grandson, Lucien, is quoted as saying he was the first Circuit Judge in the County. Mathew also appears in a U.S. Land Sale record for Pulaski County as follows: Vol. 25, Page 273, McDaniel, Mathew, 3/15/1878, 160 acres, Sec-Twp-R 36-35-11." It is interesting to note that there is a Nathan McDaniel who purchased 160 acres on the same day and in the same section. Perhaps this is a brother of Mathew's or some other relative or perhaps merely a coincidence.
In 1880, Mathew (age 62) and Jamima (age 55) are included in the federal census for Pulaski County again (Roubideaux Township). With Mathew and Jamima are their children John A., age 21, and Herman, age 16. Living in a nearby household are oldest son, Leonadis, age 24, and his wife Charlotte, age 18.
In 1897, Jamima sold to her half-brother, Abner Black, her interest in a tract of land known as dower of Isabella Black. This is apparently land that had been owned by her father which he left to his last wife, Isabella, which reverted to his children when Isabella died.
Mathew died in 1886 and was buried in the Friendship Cemetery in what is now Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri in Pulaski County. Jamima continued to live in this area for some time. Her grandson, Lucien, remembers that she "continued living in her place down in the holler by the spring where we bucketed our water from. She kept bees, but the mean hive got on to her once, then the mean hive got on to her again, so she stopped keeping her bees."
Apparently, Jamima went to live with her married daughter, Margaret Jane, as she was buried in the Niblick Cemetery in Logan County, Illinois. Daughter Margaret Jane Dixon/Dickson is also buried there.
There is a photo that some have claimed to be of Jemima. I was reluctant to believe it until contact with another descendent of Henry Black with third wife Isabella, sent me a photocopy of a picture she says is of Henry Black. The resemblance is remarkable. Strong consideration then should be given to the photo of Jamima being legitimate.
Mathew McDaniel's gravestone, Pulaski County, Missouri.
Mathew's wife, Jemima, died in 1906 in Logan County, Illinois and is buried in the Niblick Cemetery there.
LEONIDAS CHASE McDANIEL
Mathew and Jamima's son, Leonadis McDaniel was born in 1855 in Ohio, and apparently named after Mathew's Greek employer to whom he was supposedly bonded as a boy. Leonadis married Charlotte Mary BRUMBLE, daughter of William Davis BRUMBLE and Martha Brownlee FARABEE. Charlotte was born 12 Nov 1862 in Linn Creek, MO and was married to Leonadis on 23 Sep 1879.
Their children were:
Eva Myrtle (nicknamed Jake or Jakie), born 1881; Lawrence Lester (nicknamed Baby Face or Pretty Boy), born 1882; Grace Lenore, born 1884; Lucien Dewitt (nicknamed Buck), born 1886 (just 3 or 4 days before his grandfather Mathew died); Bessie Augusta, born 1888, Margarette Olive (nicknamed Maggie), born 1890; Ralph Russell (nicknamed Curly), born 1892; Ray Ashwood (nicknamed Cotten), born 1895; David Earl, born 1898; and Robert Jean (nicknamed Tot), born 1900.
Eva Myrtle married James E. Lockhart first and then a Mr. Perry. There were no children from these unions.
Lawrence Lester married Emma Myrtle Renfro and they had two children.
Grace Lenore married Fredrick Allen Messersmith and they had eight children.
Lucien Dewitt married Clara Louisa Stone and they had nine children. More will be reported on Lucien, my grandfather, a bit later.
Bessie Augusta married Jesse Ellis Payne and they had two children. She then married John Clifford Alley; no children from that union.
Margaret Olive married Lee Roy Newman and they had no children.
Ralph Russell married Leila Boggs and they had two children.
Ray Ashwood married Addie Curtis and there were no children from this union. He then married Olivia ? and they had two children.
David Earl married Dorothy Elizabeth Potter and they had five children.
Robert Jean married Edith Oneta Jackson and they had ten children.
All the children (10!) were born in Pulaski County, Missouri. In 1880, it is just Leon and Charlotte, with no children yet.
1880: Rubidoux, Pulaski County, MO
McDaniel, L. Chase, white male, 24, farmer, b. Ohio, parents b. VA
McDaniel, Charlotte, white female, 17, wife, keeping house, b. Missouri, father b. TN, mother b. Ohio
Note that Leonidas says both his parents were born in Virginia.
In about 1899, Leonadis traded the homestead in Bailey (or perhaps it was Big Piney?) to his brother Ed for a team and wagon and they moved to Prosperity, Missouri, a small mining town near Joplin (no longer there). This information comes from his daughter-in-law, Edith Oneta Jackson McDaniel.
In another version (but very similar), we have the family leaving Missouri by wagon train. Leonadis had bought a wagon and team from his brother, John (or Ed?). Fourteen-year-old Lucien was in charge of the wagon and team. He drove it all the way by himself. When they left Missouri, Leonadis possessed just a little over three dollars cash money. Lucien's uncle John McDaniel then traded his homestead for a team and wagon and joined up with the wagon train.
According to a story told by Lucien, while on their journey, a "bad man" (evidently not an outlaw) died. The people on the wagon train declined to attend the burying, but Lucien and his mother, Charlotte Mary did. Charlotte Mary sang a hymn; son Lucien said she put her head back "... and, oh, how she sang." The Brumbles were musically gifted and Charlotte wrote a hymn later in her life.
In the 1900 federal census (taken on June 2), we find the large family on the far western edge of Missouri in Jackson Township, Jasper County.
McDaniel, Leonidas, head, 46, July 1853, b. Ohio, both parents b. MO, woodchopper
Charlotte M., wife, 37, Nov 1862, b. MO, father b. TN, mother b. Ohio,
Eva M., daughter, 19, Mar 1881, b. Nebraska, father b. Ohio, mother b. MO
Lawrence L., son, 17, Oct 1882, b. Nebraska, father b. Ohio, mother b. MO
Grace L., daughter, 15, July 1884, b. MO, father b. Ohio, mother b. MO
Lucien D., son, 13, Aug 1886, b. MO, father b. Ohio, mother b. MO
Bessie A., daughter, 11, Nov 1888, b. MO, father b. Ohio, mother b. MO
Margaret O., daughter, 9, Nov 1890, b. MO, father b. Ohio, mother b. MO
Ralph R., son, 7, Dec 1892, b. MO, father b. Ohio, mother b. MO
Ray A., son, 5, Aug 1894, b. MO, father b. Ohio, mother b. MO
David E., son, 2, Feb 1898, b. MO, father b. Ohio, mother b. MO
Robert E., son, 3/12, Feb 1900, b. MO, father b. Ohio, mother b. MO
Ray Gilmore, boarder, 16, Apr 1884, b. Nebraska, father b. MO, mother b. Ohio, farm laborer
Leon was working as a woodchopper, so perhaps it was just a stop along the way to earn some extra money. Note that Leonidas here reports both parents being born in Missouri.
Whether it was their destination, or just where they ended up, the wagon train arrived at Dosie Creek, just a few miles west of present day Stroud, Oklahoma. The McDaniels were all very sick when they arrived and their new neighbors-to-be helped take care of them and may have saved a life or two.
After living for a time at Dosie Creek, they settled on Deep Fork, about six miles south of Stroud. For a time, they lived in the former house of Keokuk, Chief of the Sac & Fox Nation. The house was the oldest in the county. (In a 1947 visit to the area, Lucien's daughter, Verna Pratt McDaniel, located the old adobe home and found initials carved in the mud bricks by McDaniel family members!)
So in 1910, we find the family living in North Fox, Lincoln County, Oklahoma.
McDaniel, Chas(e) L. (Leonadis), Head, m, w, 51, married 1, 31 years, b. Ohio, father b. VA, mother b. VA, farmer, gen. farm, rent, farm
McDaniel, Charlotte M., wife, f, w, 47, married 1, 31, 10/10 children, b. MO, father b. TN, mother b. Ohio
McDaniel, Lucien D., son, m, w, 23, single, b. MO, father b. Ohio, mother b. MO, farm laborer, home farm
McDaniel, Grace L., daughter, f, w, 25, single, b. MO, father b. Ohio, mother b. MO
McDaniel, Marget O., daughter, f, w, 19, single, b. MO, father b. Ohio, mother b. MO
McDaniel, Ralph R., son, m, w, 17, single, b. MO, father b. Ohio, mother b. MO, farm laborer, home farm
McDaniel, Ray A., son, m, w, 15, single, b. MO, father b. Ohio, mother b. MO, farm laborer, home farm
McDaniel, David E., son, m, w, 12, single, b. MO, father b. Ohio, mother b. MO, farm laborer, home farm
McDaniel, Jean R., son, m, w, 10, single, b. MO, father b. Ohio, mother b. MO
Again, Leon is saying that his parents were born in Virginia.
But some time in the intervening years, the family removed to Oregon. Here we find Leonidas and the family that is still at home in Stillwell, Tillamook County, Oregon. The year is 1920.
McDaniel, L.C., head, M, W, 64, married, b. Ohio, both parents b. VA, No occupation
McDaniel, Charlotte, wife, F, W, 57, married, b. MO, father b. TN, mother b. Ohio
McDaniel, Ralph, son, M, W, 27, single, b. MO, father b. Ohio, mother b. MO, laborer, railroad
McDaniel, Ray, son, M, W, 24, single, b. MO, father b. Ohio, mother b. MO, laborer, railroad
McDaniel, David son, M, W, 21, single, b. MO, father b. Ohio, mother b. MO, laborer, saw mill
McDaniel, Jean, son, M, W, 19, single, b. MO, father b. Ohio, mother b. MO, laborer, railroad
Lockhart, Eva, daughter, F, W, 39, widowed, b. Nebraska, father b. Ohio, mother b. MO, servant, day work
Once more, Leon's parents are reported to have been born in Virginia.
In 1930, Leonidas' wife, Charlotte, has gone back to Oklahoma to live with Bessie and her family. Leonidas is living with his daughter, Eva, and her husband James, in Bunker Hill, Coos Bay, Oregon.
1930 United States Federal Census
Bunker Hill, Coos, Oregon
Lockhart, James, head, rent $12/month, age 50, 1st marriage at age 19, b. IL, both parents b. IL, laborer, pulp mill
Lockhart, Myrtle E., wife, age 49, 1st marriage at age 22, b. Nebraska, father b. Ohio, mother b. Kansas
McDaniel, Leonidas, father-in-law, b. Ohio, father b. Irish Free State, mother b. VA, no occupation
Here, for the first time, Leonidas says his father was born in Ireland.
Leonadis McDaniel died March 03, 1931 in a house fire in Marshfield, Oregon (now called Coos Bay). It is reported that he was blind, or nearly blind at the time. He is buried at Ocean View Memorial Gardens, Coos Bay, Oregon.
Leonadis and Charlotte, taken about 1911
LUCIEN DEWITT McDANIEL
Lucien McDaniel was born August 14, 1886 in Bailey, Pulaski County, Missouri.
According to his daughter, Verna, Lucien's birth was attended by a midwife named Lizzie Wolverton. Lizzie was an Osage Indian and a friend of Charlotte Mary's. Lucien remembers when his father, Leonidas, carried him into the cabin at the "Old Bailey Place" and sat him down on the floor, facing the wall, a puncheon wall.
I have heard the story that Lucien did not speak until he was 6 years. Not a word. The family felt that he must be mute and gave up trying to get him to talk. I have a memory of hearing my grandfather talk about his not speaking. I remember that he said he "could" speak and that he used to talk all the time (to himself) while out in the woods playing. He is not sure why he refused to speak in anyone's presence but, to be sure, the longer he went without speaking, the more frightened he was to "start" speaking in front of people.
One day Lucien's mother, Charlotte, was out in the yard washing clothes in a great big tub. Without even thinking, Lucien asked "[Are] Them Pop's old pants?"
Poor Charlotte thought she had just beheld a miracle. She ran screaming from the yard, trying to find someone to tell. "Lucien can talk! Lucien can talk!"
I remember my grandfather saying how badly he felt when he saw how excited his mother was that he could talk. He was ashamed that he had kept it from her for so long. But Charlotte must have just been so grateful that Lucien COULD talk, that she didn't seem to mind him withholding speech for six years. Or ... maybe she was never told that Lucien could talk all along!
According to a letter written by Lucien's wife, Clara, Lucien remembered when his mother, Charlotte Brumble McDaniel, took him and some of the smaller children to Nebraska to see Grandma Brumble (Martha Farabee Brumble). Up by St. Joseph, they crossed the river in a row boat and in Missouri, they had to change trains. Lucien was asleep in the waiting room of the depot when his mother woke him up to see Buffalo Bill. He had long black hair. When Charlotte spoke, he heard her and so he turned around. Lucien remembers that he had piercing black eyes and he glared at Charlotte and Lucien as he looked at them over his shoulder.
Also per the same letter, Lucien was born in a log house across the road from Mathew McDaniel's place.
As mentioned previously, the McDaniel family moved from Missouri to Oklahoma in about 1899-1900 when Lucien was 14 years old.
In 1910, Lucien is a single 23-year-old working on his father's farm in North Fox, near Stroud. Five of his siblings are still living at home also.
Lucien and Clara met the week after Clara's father died, leaving Clara and her brothers and sisters orphans. Clara was 17 years old and she and her brothers and sisters were staying with family friends, the Renfro's, while arrangements were made and carried out for her father's funeral. It was the 4th of July weekend and, after the funeral, the Renfro's had a fish fry down on the creek. Verna Maud Stone told Clara to take Lucien's horses down to the creek for a drink and she did.
Lucien's brother, Lester, told him it was time he got married. He suggested that Verna Maude Stone would be a good choice, but Lucien picked her sister, Clara, instead. He said he had seen Clara once before, as she was walking barefoot down a dusty road. Clara didn't notice Lucien as she was walking with her head down, but Lucien saw Clara as her bare feet kicked up poufs of red dust. When Clara took Lucien's horses down to the creek, it was Lucien's second time to see Clara.
At the end of that week, the Stone children went back to their homestead at Olive, Oklahoma. A few months after that week in July, Lucien sent Clara a love letter reproduced here:
The original of this letter is in the possession of Verna McDaniel Pratt. I thank her for providing it to me and for allowing me to place a copy of it here.
All spelling and grammar errors have been left as written. I have added a few punctuation marks to aid in comprehension. I would like to note that Lucien McDaniel's education ended at the third grade.
Stroud, Oklahoma
9.8.1913
Miss Clara Stone
Dearest Sweet Hart, got your sweet letter this morning and to say I was glad to here from you wouldn't be in it. Just had to stand on my head about three times when I red it. This [letter] leaves me well an fine as silk. Hope you are well and getting along all right. You must not pick to mutch cotton or work to hard this hot weather. If I had my way about it you wouldn't pick any cotton at all.
Well Sweetness, you was some disapointed maybe because I didn't come last week when I said that I would but it nearly busted my hart. I wanted to come so bad before cotton picking started. Now I don't know when I will get to come. Just after I wrote you that I was coming, one of my horses run a nail in his foot and got so lame that he wouldn't do to drive at all. I was so afraid you would be a little mad because I wrote I was coming and then didn't come. I wouldn't make you mad or hurt your feelings, Sweet Hart, for any thing in this world when I love you so mutch. Clara, do you realy love me as you said in your letter? Couldn't you just love me and no body else? I don't want to ever love any other girl and know that I never will. You have all the love I can ever give any one.
You ask me, Clara, if I would forgive you for what you had done. Of course I forgive you a long time ago. I would give you any thing or do any that you ask me for. Any body as sweet as you are, who could keep from forgiving them.
Well, Scrumbuntious girl of mine, don't know mutch news to write to you. Have been going to a camp meating several nights this last week. They have bin having it in a grove under a brush arbor about a mile west of where I live. Yesterday was Sunday. They had a basket dinner on the ground, loots of fried chicken, you bet. Went down to Bob Renfrows in the evening. Less, Myrtle an Bert an Daisy and allmost every body else in the country was down there. We played croquet and eat ten gallons of ice cream and had a good time in general. Wish you could have been there to.
Sweetness, you don't know how lone some I get here all by my self so mutch of the time. I believe if you did, you would feel sorry for me and come keep house for me. Ha-ha—
Well this is Tuesday morning. Got your leter yesterday morning on the RFD and will send an answer this morning if I hurry before the mail is gone.
We had the finest rain here Sunday night and Monday. It is quite a bit cooler now.
Clara, Sweet Hart, you must not love any of theme old boys down there too mutch or give them all your kisses. Please save poor old me some of them.
I know that I love you more twice over than any of them.
Be a good little kid and try not to forget me entirely. If you can't love me big, why, try and love me some any way.
‘Tis said that absence conquers love
But O believe it not
Iv tryed alass its powers to prove
But thou art not forgot.
[This poem was written upside down from the rest of the letter.]
I may get my work done up and every thing out of the way so that I can come down this Sat. to see you. If I do come, I'll get me a club and run all them other boys off the place.
Will close with love and kisses to my Sweet Hart. XOXO
Lucien to Clara
Write soon - and loot of it.
By By S.H. X.
And later that month, Lucien went to ask Clara to marry him. Clara said she couldn't marry him because she had housework and ironing to do. He hung around anway, and asked her again to marry him. She said no, she had to cook dinner. Lucien continued pestering Clara to marry him and finally, out of excuses, she said she would go out in the fields and ask her older brothers. When she got out there and told them what Lucien wanted, they said "Hell, we don't care" and so she told Lucien "Yes" and they left in his buggy. Years later, her daughter, Verna, asked her what she took with her. Her clothes? A sweater? Her purse? A good skillet? Clara said "No," she didn't take anything with her; just the clothes she was wearing. She got in the buggy and Lucien headed the team toward Stroud.
They stayed the night at Lester and Myrtle's (Lucien's brother). Myrtle loaned or gave Clara a dress to be married in and they were married on September 16, 1913 in Chandler, Oklahoma.
Many years later, the court house where they were married caught fire and burned. By coincidence, Lucien just happened to be there and watched the fire. A local television crew was also there getting some footage for the evening news and they interviewed Lucien who told them, "Sixty years ago, I married my wife in that courthouse. We started a flame then and it's still burning to this day!"
Lucien took his bride to the Arch Longton place, a little NE of Stroud, where he and other McDaniels were share-cropping. On the way there, he stopped at a place to eat, but shy Clara wouldn't get out of the buggy and Lucien had to go in by himself.
When the newlyweds arrived, Lucien's relatives got together to celebrate his marriage to Clara. Their daughter, Verna McDaniel Pratt, remembers being told how Lucien swung his guitar behind Clara so he could dance with her while he played the guitar!
Lucien and Clara's first child, Mildred, was born in 1914 while they lived there. Grandma Charlotte would babysit Mildred while the still-young Clara would "play fort" down at the creek with Lucien's younger brothers.
Lucien, Clara, and baby Mildred moved to Fruita, Colorado in 1916. They also lived at Grand Junction and Ouray, among other places in Colorado. Lucien worked in the mines up in the mountains. In the morning, he rode his horse up the mountain, where he turned it loose. The horse would go home then. At the end of work that night, Lucien would ski back down the mountain.
Lucien said that one night, as he skied down the mountain, he stopped on a bare knob to admire the lights of Ouray far below. The next morning, while riding up the mountain, he saw the pug marks of a mountain lion which had been following him down the night before. He saw where the big cat had stopped and sat behind him as he stood looking down at the lights.
Lucien and Clara rented a 2-story furnished house for $8 a month. The second story also had doors so they could get in and out when the snow level was so high it covered up the downstairs doors.
From Colorado, the little family moved by train to Eastside, Oregon (1917-18). They lived in Tillamook for several years. It was here that children Aaron, Nolan, Clifford, Minnie, and June were all born.
While living in Oregon, Lucien and some other men went deer hunting. While away, Lucien became ill and had to stay in camp while the others hunted. Suddenly, an old bear came into camp. Lucien had just enough strength to aim and fire at the bear. He hit that old bear twice. It was a close call, but Lucien and Clara had that bearskin rug for a long, long time. Clara would drape it over her body and crawl around the floor making "bear noises" to scare her young children. They knew it was her every time, but every time they screamed and ran anyway.
In 1925, Clara took the littlest children and moved back to live with her brothers in Oklahoma. Lucien traded his home and two city lots he owned for a car; he then took Mildred and the three boys and went looking for Clara. They reunited in Oklahoma.
Later that fall, they left for Texas. In Galveston, they stayed with Lucien's maternal uncle, John Brumble, and his wife, Beadie Ann. The Brumbles were living in a dirt bank with a small cave dug to hold their belongings. In front of the cave, a frond-roof covering the bare ground was the sleeping/eating quarters.
There were many more moves in the years ahead: New Mexico, California, Missouri, then Oregon again where on 4/1/31 daughter Betty was born.
The next move was back to Oklahoma where Lucien and the older boys built for them a cabin in an area they nicknamed "Pee Ridge" (also more politely known as "Pea Ridge"). The cabin is famous in family lore for having two doorways, but only one door. So when the wind changed direction, they simply picked up the door and moved it to cover the other doorway. A windshield removed from an old Model-T served as a window. Son Donald was born here and when he was only 9 days old, Lucien moved his family again, this time to Arkansas. Lucien worked for a short time on a strawberry ranch that belonged to his cousin, Cora.
Then it was back Santa Ana where on 2/14/38 daughter Verna was born. A sweet letter was written by Charlotte Brumble McDaniel to her son, Lucien and his wife, Clara, on the birth of their daughter Verna:
Dear Lucian and Clara and all your family including Mildred and her family and to be sure the new girl. I seen without your telling it that she is by far the prettyest and sweetest, smartest baby on earth. Now ainte I right. Boys, do I here aye aye? I new it.
Well, here is one thing you didn't no. She was borned on her grate grandfather's and grandmother's weding anniversary. William D. Brumble and Martha Farabee was married Feb. 14, 1860. Mother said she was dressed in white satin and wore what was called a head dress of brown sattin ribbon and all the gests or crowd came in slays as there was a very heavy snow on and they all had slay bells. Now isn't that some history. No wonder she is such a wonderful baby and wouldn't I just love to see her. No no, she won't be spoilt. Not eny.
Edith has brought my namesake to see me several times and she is a very pretty baby. I think she looks some like her mother. Well neigh about the babys, god bless them.
I thank you for all that lovely box of flowers. They had come through in pretty good shape, most of them. Cliff shode them to Mr. Mooney. He thought them wonderful. I am going to make me a glass of lemonade rite from Buck's house. It will taste better, won't it? Freda and Soney sent me a box of flowers but most of them was spoilt. I think they made them to damp.
Well I am sure getting tired. I am up most all day now. The gatherings in my ears is almost well for witch I am very thankfull. I shure have had all the care and loving kindness that anyone could possibly have. Bessie and Clifford both have done all any one could so. So has Jean and Edith and Ralph, Ray and all of you have declared the truth for me. Grace is my practioner and Cliff said I was just raised from the ded and I no that I was. Thanks be to god and to the constant work and faith in god and Christian Science. I send my love to all.
Mother
Oldest daughter, Mildred, remembers at least 42 moves.
From Santa Ana, the family moved to Meadow Vista in northern California. There were still more moves until finally, Lucien and Clara returned to Stroud, Oklahoma. They continued to live in Stroud until their deaths ... Lucien in 1971 and Clara in 1983.
Hopping Bunny Productions
Copyright ©2000-2009
Judith Stevens
All Rights Reserved
MATHEW M. McDANIEL
NOTE: A newly discovered record on Ancestry.com shows that a young 24-year-old M. McDaniel, whose birth location is Ireland, left Liverpool, England on the ship Sheridan, arriving in the port of New York on 18 Apr 1842. The age of the passenger puts his year of birth in the range of 1817-1819, and we believe our Mathew was born in 1817. There must have been very many McDaniel males leaving Ireland between 1817 and 1848 [when our Mathew married Jemima Black] and it would be difficult, if not impossible, to declare that this is our Mathew.
It's time to set the record straight about Mathew's ancestry. Some earlier family research had indicated Mathew was descended from Randal McDaniel; however, my research and that of others indicates that, although it is possible there may be some relationship between the two McDaniel families, none has been proved to date and it seems unlikely. Our Matthew certainly was not the son of Matthew Whiteman McDaniel, also of Rockbridge, Virginia, who is actually younger than our Mathew.]
According to oral family history, Mathew spent his early years as a bond servant to a Greek tailor named Leonidas (after whom he named a son) possibly in Roanoke, Virginia. As Mathew lists his occupation as tailor in the 1850 census, this seems a definite possibility.
In the 1840 census, there is ony one Matthew McDaniel listed in Rockbridge County, Virginia, and he is married with two children. This would not be our Mathew. I also checked Roanoke County, VA and no Matthew McDaniel is listed there. Mathew married Jamima (spelled in various places as Jemima, Jemimah, etc.) BLACK, daughter of Henry BLACK and Polly NEWCOMER, on March 21, 1848, Rev. Andrew B. Davidson officiating. Jamima's sister, Margaret, was married to William FORSYTHE on the same day and by the same minister.
Mathew and Jamima's first child was a son, named Henry A. apparently after Jamima's father, Henry Black. The 1850 census of Rockbridge County, VA, lists Mathew, age 33, Jamima, age 25 and their son Henry A., 6 months old. Mathew's occupation is tailor and his property is worth $500. All three have birthplace listed as Virginia.
Oral family history indicates that Jamima and her father, Henry, had some sort of falling out. There was speculation that Henry did not approve of the marriage between his daughter and Mathew. The reason given was that Henry was wealthy and Mathew didn't have much to offer in the way of material goods. Census data does not bear out that Henry was a rich man ... at least not until he married his cousin, Martha (Patsy) Black. After that, census records reflect an increase in the worth of his farm.
Jemima's mother, Polly, died March 23, 1831 and is buried in Oxford Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Rockbridge County, Virginia.
Henry then married his cousin, Martha (Patsy) as mentioned above. After Martha's death in about 1851-1852, Henry married Isabella Forsythe (1853). Isabella was a sister of William Forsythe who married Jamima's sister, Margaret. Isabella was born in 1825, the same year that Jamima was born. I suspect that Jamima did not care for the idea of her father marrying someone who was possibly her girlfriend. Isabella was at the very least a contemporary of Jamima's and possibly even a friend and this, I believe, is what caused the rift between daughter and father.
Some time after the 1850 census was taken, Jamima and Mathew left Virginia. It is not known where there were during this time, possibly Tennessee, where it is believed that three, possibly four more children were born and died. There are no records offered as proof of this, only oral family history. By 1855, they were living in Ohio, where a son (Leonadis) is born. Two years later, they are living in Illinois. Here four more children are born (Margaret Jane, John E., Louisa V., and Herman Edward.
They next appear in the Federal Census of Pulaski County, (Big Piney) Missouri, in 1870. The following is noted: Mathew McDaniel, age 52, farmer, worth $111, born in VA; Jamima McDaniel, age 45, born in VA; Leonidas McDaniel, age 15, born in Ohio (this son was apparently named for Mathew's former employer, the Greek tailor); M. Jane, age 13, born in Illinois; John A., age 11, born in Illinois; Louiza V., age 9, born in Illinois; and Harman (Herman) E., age 6, born in Illinois.
The information contained in this census indicates that Mathew and Jamima should have been found in the 1860 census of Illinois but index records of that census do not show them at all. They may have been missed entirely or were accidentally deleted when the census-taker transcribed his notes. There was an Illinois State Census for 1865, but they have not been found in that state census either.
Mathew is listed as a Justice of the Peace in "Justices of Peace, Pulaski County, Missouri, 1833 to 1868." In a newspaper article, his grandson, Lucien, is quoted as saying he was the first Circuit Judge in the County. Mathew also appears in a U.S. Land Sale record for Pulaski County as follows: Vol. 25, Page 273, McDaniel, Mathew, 3/15/1878, 160 acres, Sec-Twp-R 36-35-11." It is interesting to note that there is a Nathan McDaniel who purchased 160 acres on the same day and in the same section. Perhaps this is a brother of Mathew's or some other relative or perhaps merely a coincidence.
In 1880, Mathew (age 62) and Jamima (age 55) are included in the federal census for Pulaski County again (Roubideaux Township). With Mathew and Jamima are their children John A., age 21, and Herman, age 16. Living in a nearby household are oldest son, Leonadis, age 24, and his wife Charlotte, age 18. In 1897, Jamima sold to her half-brother, Abner Black, her interest in a tract of land known as dower of Isabella Black. This is apparently land that had been owned by her father which he left to his last wife, Isabella, which reverted to his children when Isabella died.
Mathew died in 1886 and was buried in the Friendship Cemetery in what is now Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri in Pulaski County. Jamima continued to live in this area for some time. Her grandson, Lucien, remembers that she "continued living in her place down in the holler by the spring where we bucketed our water from. She kept bees, but the mean hive got on to her once, then the mean hive got on to her again, so she stopped keeping her bees."
Apparently, Jamima went to live with her married daughter, Margaret Jane, as she was buried in the Niblick Cemetery in Logan County, Illinois. Daughter Margaret Jane Dixon/Dickson is also buried there. There is a photo that some have claimed to be of Jemima. I was reluctant to believe it until contact with another descendent of Henry Black with third wife Isabella, sent me a photocopy of a picture she says is of Henry Black. The resemblance is remarkable. Strong consideration then should be given to the photo of Jamima being legitimate.
Mathew McDaniel's gravestone, Pulaski County, Missouri.
LEONIDAS CHASE McDANIEL
Leonadis and Charlotte, taken about 1911
LUCIEN DEWITT McDANIEL
All spelling and grammar errors have been left as written. I have added a few punctuation marks to aid in comprehension. I would like to note that Lucien McDaniel's education ended at the third grade.
Stroud, Oklahoma
9.8.1913
Miss Clara Stone
Dearest Sweet Hart, got your sweet letter this morning and to say I was glad to here from you wouldn't be in it. Just had to stand on my head about three times when I red it. This [letter] leaves me well an fine as silk. Hope you are well and getting along all right. You must not pick to mutch cotton or work to hard this hot weather. If I had my way about it you wouldn't pick any cotton at all.
Well Sweetness, you was some disapointed maybe because I didn't come last week when I said that I would but it nearly busted my hart. I wanted to come so bad before cotton picking started. Now I don't know when I will get to come. Just after I wrote you that I was coming, one of my horses run a nail in his foot and got so lame that he wouldn't do to drive at all. I was so afraid you would be a little mad because I wrote I was coming and then didn't come. I wouldn't make you mad or hurt your feelings, Sweet Hart, for any thing in this world when I love you so mutch. Clara, do you realy love me as you said in your letter? Couldn't you just love me and no body else? I don't want to ever love any other girl and know that I never will. You have all the love I can ever give any one.
You ask me, Clara, if I would forgive you for what you had done. Of course I forgive you a long time ago. I would give you any thing or do any that you ask me for. Any body as sweet as you are, who could keep from forgiving them.
Well, Scrumbuntious girl of mine, don't know mutch news to write to you. Have been going to a camp meating several nights this last week. They have bin having it in a grove under a brush arbor about a mile west of where I live. Yesterday was Sunday. They had a basket dinner on the ground, loots of fried chicken, you bet. Went down to Bob Renfrows in the evening. Less, Myrtle an Bert an Daisy and allmost every body else in the country was down there. We played croquet and eat ten gallons of ice cream and had a good time in general. Wish you could have been there to.
Sweetness, you don't know how lone some I get here all by my self so mutch of the time. I believe if you did, you would feel sorry for me and come keep house for me. Ha-ha—
Well this is Tuesday morning. Got your leter yesterday morning on the RFD and will send an answer this morning if I hurry before the mail is gone.
We had the finest rain here Sunday night and Monday. It is quite a bit cooler now.
Clara, Sweet Hart, you must not love any of theme old boys down there too mutch or give them all your kisses. Please save poor old me some of them.
I know that I love you more twice over than any of them.
Be a good little kid and try not to forget me entirely. If you can't love me big, why, try and love me some any way.
‘Tis said that absence conquers love
But O believe it not
Iv tryed alass its powers to prove
But thou art not forgot.
[This poem was written upside down from the rest of the letter.]
I may get my work done up and every thing out of the way so that I can come down this Sat. to see you. If I do come, I'll get me a club and run all them other boys off the place.
Will close with love and kisses to my Sweet Hart. XOXO
Lucien to Clara
Write soon - and loot of it.
By By S.H. X.
And later that month, Lucien went to ask Clara to marry him. Clara said she couldn't marry him because she had housework and ironing to do. He hung around anway, and asked her again to marry him. She said no, she had to cook dinner. Lucien continued pestering Clara to marry him and finally, out of excuses, she said she would go out in the fields and ask her older brothers. When she got out there and told them what Lucien wanted, they said "Hell, we don't care" and so she told Lucien "Yes" and they left in his buggy. Years later, her daughter, Verna, asked her what she took with her. Her clothes? A sweater? Her purse? A good skillet? Clara said "No," she didn't take anything with her; just the clothes she was wearing. She got in the buggy and Lucien headed the team toward Stroud.
They stayed the night at Lester and Myrtle's (Lucien's brother). Myrtle loaned or gave Clara a dress to be married in and they were married on September 16, 1913 in Chandler, Oklahoma.
Many years later, the court house where they were married caught fire and burned. By coincidence, Lucien just happened to be there and watched the fire. A local television crew was also there getting some footage for the evening news and they interviewed Lucien who told them, "Sixty years ago, I married my wife in that courthouse. We started a flame then and it's still burning to this day!"
Lucien took his bride to the Arch Longton place, a little NE of Stroud, where he and other McDaniels were share-cropping. On the way there, he stopped at a place to eat, but shy Clara wouldn't get out of the buggy and Lucien had to go in by himself.
When the newlyweds arrived, Lucien's relatives got together to celebrate his marriage to Clara. Their daughter, Verna McDaniel Pratt, remembers being told how Lucien swung his guitar behind Clara so he could dance with her while he played the guitar!
Lucien and Clara's first child, Mildred, was born in 1914 while they lived there. Grandma Charlotte would babysit Mildred while the still-young Clara would "play fort" down at the creek with Lucien's younger brothers.
Lucien, Clara, and baby Mildred moved to Fruita, Colorado in 1916. They also lived at Grand Junction and Ouray, among other places in Colorado. Lucien worked in the mines up in the mountains. In the morning, he rode his horse up the mountain, where he turned it loose. The horse would go home then. At the end of work that night, Lucien would ski back down the mountain.
Lucien said that one night, as he skied down the mountain, he stopped on a bare knob to admire the lights of Ouray far below. The next morning, while riding up the mountain, he saw the pug marks of a mountain lion which had been following him down the night before. He saw where the big cat had stopped and sat behind him as he stood looking down at the lights.
Lucien and Clara rented a 2-story furnished house for $8 a month. The second story also had doors so they could get in and out when the snow level was so high it covered up the downstairs doors.
From Colorado, the little family moved by train to Eastside, Oregon (1917-18). They lived in Tillamook for several years. It was here that children Aaron, Nolan, Clifford, Minnie, and June were all born.
While living in Oregon, Lucien and some other men went deer hunting. While away, Lucien became ill and had to stay in camp while the others hunted. Suddenly, an old bear came into camp. Lucien had just enough strength to aim and fire at the bear. He hit that old bear twice. It was a close call, but Lucien and Clara had that bearskin rug for a long, long time. Clara would drape it over her body and crawl around the floor making "bear noises" to scare her young children. They knew it was her every time, but every time they screamed and ran anyway.
In 1925, Clara took the littlest children and moved back to live with her brothers in Oklahoma. Lucien traded his home and two city lots he owned for a car; he then took Mildred and the three boys and went looking for Clara. They reunited in Oklahoma.
Later that fall, they left for Texas. In Galveston, they stayed with Lucien's maternal uncle, John Brumble, and his wife, Beadie Ann. The Brumbles were living in a dirt bank with a small cave dug to hold their belongings. In front of the cave, a frond-roof covering the bare ground was the sleeping/eating quarters.
There were many more moves in the years ahead: New Mexico, California, Missouri, then Oregon again where on 4/1/31 daughter Betty was born.
The next move was back to Oklahoma where Lucien and the older boys built for them a cabin in an area they nicknamed "Pee Ridge" (also more politely known as "Pea Ridge"). The cabin is famous in family lore for having two doorways, but only one door. So when the wind changed direction, they simply picked up the door and moved it to cover the other doorway. A windshield removed from an old Model-T served as a window. Son Donald was born here and when he was only 9 days old, Lucien moved his family again, this time to Arkansas. Lucien worked for a short time on a strawberry ranch that belonged to his cousin, Cora.
Then it was back Santa Ana where on 2/14/38 daughter Verna was born. A sweet letter was written by Charlotte Brumble McDaniel to her son, Lucien and his wife, Clara, on the birth of their daughter Verna:
Dear Lucian and Clara and all your family including Mildred and her family and to be sure the new girl. I seen without your telling it that she is by far the prettyest and sweetest, smartest baby on earth. Now ainte I right. Boys, do I here aye aye? I new it.
Well, here is one thing you didn't no. She was borned on her grate grandfather's and grandmother's weding anniversary. William D. Brumble and Martha Farabee was married Feb. 14, 1860. Mother said she was dressed in white satin and wore what was called a head dress of brown sattin ribbon and all the gests or crowd came in slays as there was a very heavy snow on and they all had slay bells. Now isn't that some history. No wonder she is such a wonderful baby and wouldn't I just love to see her. No no, she won't be spoilt. Not eny.
Edith has brought my namesake to see me several times and she is a very pretty baby. I think she looks some like her mother. Well neigh about the babys, god bless them.
I thank you for all that lovely box of flowers. They had come through in pretty good shape, most of them. Cliff shode them to Mr. Mooney. He thought them wonderful. I am going to make me a glass of lemonade rite from Buck's house. It will taste better, won't it? Freda and Soney sent me a box of flowers but most of them was spoilt. I think they made them to damp.
Well I am sure getting tired. I am up most all day now. The gatherings in my ears is almost well for witch I am very thankfull. I shure have had all the care and loving kindness that anyone could possibly have. Bessie and Clifford both have done all any one could so. So has Jean and Edith and Ralph, Ray and all of you have declared the truth for me. Grace is my practioner and Cliff said I was just raised from the ded and I no that I was. Thanks be to god and to the constant work and faith in god and Christian Science. I send my love to all.
Mother
Oldest daughter, Mildred, remembers at least 42 moves.
From Santa Ana, the family moved to Meadow Vista in northern California. There were still more moves until finally, Lucien and Clara returned to Stroud, Oklahoma. They continued to live in Stroud until their deaths ... Lucien in 1971 and Clara in 1983.
Hopping Bunny Productions
Copyright ©2000-2009
Judith Stevens
All Rights Reserved